A Utah judge has dismissed charges against a woman who shot her professional bull rider boyfriend, as she believed he was an intruder breaking into her home. The court determined at a hearing that she acted within legal justification when taking the man’s life.
Lashawn Denise Bagley, 23, was originally charged with the murder of Demetrius Allen, who was killed in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sept. 12, 2022, after winning at the state fair. She was also charged with felony discharge of a firearm.
The incident was initially investigated as “domestic violence homicide.”
Officers from the Salt Lake Police Department arrived at Bagley’s apartment complex and found the 27-year-old, who performed under the name Ouncie Mitchell, wounded from gunfire. He was transported to a local hospital but did not survive.
After seeing “multiple bullet holes” in Bagley’s place of residency, SLPD took her into custody as a suspect and charged her with his death.
Detective Michelle Peterson stated Allen intended to retrieve his belongings from Bagley’s apartment but was shot upon arrival. A witness also said there was “no entry or attempted forced entry into the apartment” at that time.
After examining the evidence, Judge Mark Kouris affirmed on Wednesday, Jan. 3, at a justification hearing that the Bagley was justified in killing Allen. He emphasized that her knowledge of the intruder’s identity or the man’s belongings in her home didn’t affect her legal right to defend her residence.
A Utah law that took effect in 2021 allows defendants claiming self-defense to go before a judge up to 28 days before trial and present a case for dismissal of charges.
“She was justified in shooting the gun,” he said from the bench, dismissing nine counts of felony discharge of a firearm, one first-degree felony, and eight third-degree felonies, against her, according to KSL.com.
During the hearing, Salt Lake Police Detective Nathan Wiley testified that Bagley thought her home was being invaded, prompting her to call 911 on the night of the shooting.
Bagley left her home with Allen and another woman at 9:30 p.m. to visit a club but returned home on her own around 11:30 p.m.
When Bagley called 911 at 12:04 a.m. to report the disturbance at her door and the dispatcher inquired about the situation, she responded, “I’m shooting.”
Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Andrew Deesing argued that Bagley had “no reasonable fear,” and presented as evidence texts to her from Allen where he said he was coming to get his stuff from her home because he was staying there.
Defense attorney Sherry Valdez said her client shot him out of self-defense.
“LaShawn owned the gun. She had every right to protect herself in her own house,” Valdez said.
Kouris considered multiple factors in his decision, including her petite stature, the vulnerability of living on the ground floor in a high-crime area, the timing of the incident and focused on testimony that showed Allen and another woman twice trying to get into the apartment, even using a credit card, before Bagley ever called 911.
The woman even testified in court that Allen picked up a rock and said to her when he could not get into the house, “I’m from Houston, we can get in.”
The judge asserted that Bagley, released to her Texas family in November 2023 after being arrested and kept in jail since January, merely needed to perceive a home invasion to justify self-defense.
He further deemed it unreasonable for anyone to lawfully break a window for forgotten belongings and highlighted the lack of evidence indicating Bagley had read Allen’s texts or recognized him at the door.
